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Donald Clarke

Whingeing about cinema and real life since 2009

Prince of Persia is the new Ice Age 3.

It’s official. As we have noted here repeatedly, any examination of films that do disproportionately well outside the United States will confirm that overseas — by the American definition — viewers seem, if anything, more addicted to poo than those …

Donald Clarke

Donald

Wed, Aug 11, 2010, 19:29

It’s official.

As we have noted here repeatedly, any examination of films that do disproportionately well outside the United States will confirm that overseas — by the American definition — viewers seem, if anything, more addicted to poo than those in the New World. Last year, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, by earning a staggering 77 percent of its takings in Rest of World, managed to bully its way to number three in the 2009 charts. Roland Emmerich’s 2012 did, in proportional terms, even better with us Auslanders.

The top 10 for this year so far reveals the following useless fact: ROW loves Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (72 percent), but is, in proportional terms, oddly uninterested in Iron Man 2 (a tiny 49 percent).

It’s a weird one. There are, of course, two ways of approaching the question.

1) Why is ROW somewhat cool on Iron Man and rather hot on Prince of Persia?

2) Why is America so keen on Iron Man and a little wary of Prince of Persia?

I don’t know. They are both in roughly the same genre. They are both reasonably entertaining (no more, no less.) I guess you could argue that, being set nowhere and everywhere, Prince of Persia has more universal appeal. Either way, William Goldman’s old maxim seems more relevant than ever. You know the one I mean.